Sparkography

Friday 23^rd Oct was a big night for ten young ladies who had made it through to the NSW final of fashiontv’s Diamond Model Awards, one of the biggest model search competitions in Australia. The venue: Sydney’s Favela nightclub in Pott’s Point, which had also hosted three of the qualifying rounds.

As a regular photographer for Favela I snapped up the opportunity to shoot the final. Although it meant I’d had to leave my good friend Naomi’s birthday celebrations to do so (something I’m sure I may never be forgiven for). However, I also had a personal interest in attending the event as another Naomi (my mate Naomi Fitzgerald De Grave) was one of the finalists.

The final had been hyped up by the media as well as, of course, the models so the club was packed well before the competition started. A judging panel of leading names in fashion and styling, plus performances from previous finalists on So You Think You Can Dance added extra punch to the occasion.

The crowd was stylish and good looking as you’d expect; girls were in their best frocks and guys in their most fitted shirts. Plus there was a heap of photographers present which created a real fashion show buzz. Luckily as I was on home turf I was able not only to command the best shooting location but crucially also had backstage access to the dressing room.

Now for those who really want to know (i.e. most of my male mates), yes the dressing room is just how you’d imagine: a frenzied hive of activity with semi-clad girls scurrying between having their hair styled, their eyes shadowed, and their outfits fitted. And it was fascinating! The intensity and professionalism of the styling teams from Christopher Hanna and Gorgeous Cosmetics was mesmerising and I found myself constantly dodging and weaving to stay out of their way in the cramped and suffocating room, whilst also trying to shoot them at work from the best angles.

Back to the cooler climates of the club and the competition was about to start. The swimwear round (supplied by Jets) would be followed by eveningwear (by Nicola Finetti) before the judges decided on their winner. A “catwalk” had been marked out around the club using light ropes, guiding the girls towards the judges’ sofa before turning and heading back to the dressing room.

After a scout of potential locations I found a good spot next to the judges at the foot of a small stairway. This meant I would catch the girls walking towards me and stopping to pose at the top of the stairs, and then again as they headed back and did a final turn to the judges. Double opportunity meant double the shots and therefore double the selection for my final cut. This might sound a bit hit and miss but in a situation where there are no second chances, more is better. Because as good as a model looks, you need to catch her with head, arms, hips, and legs all in the right position to bring her to life.

And boy did I make a good decision! Once the show, the music, and the crowd started pumping it was a full on exercise in self control and preservation! Trying to keep your adrenalin down while gorgeous girls in swimsuits are walking past you is hard enough, let along when you’re trying to take flattering photos of them in manual mode and fighting against the surging crowd!

Round one over and while the punters flocked to the bar I was shuttling between the dressing room for the eveningwear prep and the club to get crowd shots for the promoters and sponsors. Then came an equally frantic session of shooting for eveningwear and I just about made it through to the winner’s announcement without needing to reach for another memory card.

As my first foray into the fashion world it was a fantastic evening. I was exhausted but exhilarated after going through four hours of shooting, over four hundred photos, two batteries, and just one bottle of water! But the crowning glory was that despite leaving one celebration I was able to join another as Naomi, the clear crowd favourite, won the final and will now go on to represent NSW in the grand final in Melbourne next weekend. So GO NOMES!